(EnergyAsia, June 9 2014, Monday) — Singapore’s Pavilion Gas has signed a new 10-year agreement to increase the annual purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 700,000 tonnes from France’s Total starting 2018, the two companies have announced. Replacing last year’s agreement for the annual purchase of 500,000 tonnes, the subsidiary of Pavilion Energy, a...
(EnergyAsia, June 6 2014, Friday) — Australia’s Origin Energy has agreed to pay up to US$800 million for a 40% stake in two major gas reserves in the Browse Basin located off the coast of Western Australia state. Origin said it will acquire Karoon Gas Ltd’s WA-315-P and WA-398-P exploration permits in the Poseidon area...
(EnergyAsia, June 6 2014, Friday) — The oil refining industry in Thailand is joining its counterparts in Australia, Singapore and Japan in beating a retreat as it feels the competitive pressure from much larger and more sophisticated plants in the Middle East, China and India. State-owned PTT is planning to sell off its holdings in...
(EnergyAsia, June 5 2014, Thursday) — Asia must better plan and prepare for potential oil shocks and supply disruptions as its rapid energy demand growth shows no signs of slowing down, said two recent studies. US ratings agency S&P said Asia’s energy deficit will continue to rise with its energy imports reaching a record 40%...
(EnergyAsia, June 4 2014, Wednesday) — PacificLight Power Pte Ltd, a company jointly owned by Filipino and Malaysian interests, has started up the first power plant in Singapore to be fired entirely by liquefied natural gas (LNG). PacificLight Power, which is 70% owned by Manila-based FPM Power Holdings Ltd, invested S$1.2 billion in the state-of-the-art...
(EnergyAsia, June 3 2014, Tuesday) — The decline of Singapore’s once-mighty oil refining industry looks set to continue despite hitting a new low with Shell recently writing off the US$2.3 billion value of its 500,000 b/d plant. At its peak in the 1990s, the giant Bukom Island refinery was described as the crown jewel of...
(EnergyAsia, June 2 2014, Monday) — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has kept unchanged its May forecast for this year’s global oil demand and economic growth from the previous month. The cartel retained its previous forecast for global oil consumption at 91.15 million b/d in 2014 and world economic growth at 3.4%. “Global...
(EnergyAsia, June 2 2014, Monday) — Citing the impact of Ukraine’s political crisis on Central Asia, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has lowered its May forecasts for global oil demand growth from its previous April call. The world will consume 91.56 million this year and b/d 92.80 million b/d in 2015, said the US agency’s...
(EnergyAsia, May 30 2014, Friday) — Australia has started channelling its inner Hamlet as it prepares to become the next global king of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. The thrill over its rapid ascension to hydrocarbon wealth and power is increasingly giving way to doubts and guilt over the uncertain long-term impacts of LNG exports...
(EnergyAsia, May 29 2014, Thursday) — Australia’s largest independent fuel operator has started up a new A$70 million storage and distribution terminal in Mackay in Queensland state, adding to its global network of more than 62 bulk fuel terminals. (US$1=A$1.05). Singapore-based Puma Energy said the facility, Australia’s first greenfield fuel terminal, comprises six tanks with...
(EnergyAsia, May 29 2014, Thursday) — The collapse of US-led economic sanctions against Iran is all but complete with China increasing its oil trade and investment with the Middle Eastern powerhouse. Following on last week’s landmark US$400-billion deal to import natural gas from Russia, China is said to be planning to invest more than US$2...
(EnergyAsia, May 28 2014, Wednesday) — In a move to reduce trade dependence on the US dollar, Russia and China have agreed to use their currencies to settle payment for their breakthrough US$400 billion natural gas deal signed last week. At the same time that Gazprom signed the 30-year deal to supply China National Petroleum...
(EnergyAsia, May 28 2014, Wednesday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has raised its latest forecast for 2014’s global oil demand to 92.8 million b/d, up significantly from the previous month’s prediction of 92.68 million b/d. This implies a rise of more than 1.5% over last year’s consumption of 91.4 million b/d, putting pressure on...
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2014, Tuesday) — An ExxonMobil-led consortium has exported the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its newly launched 6.9 million tonnes/year project in Papua New Guinea. The US$19 billion PNG LNG project started up several months ahead of schedule to ship out the cargo to Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc...
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2014, Tuesday) — Russian gas giant Gazprom has agreed to help market liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region to India and other parts of Asia through its soon-to-be-listed Singapore subsidiary. Novatek, Russia’s largest independent gas producer, last week signed an agreement to supply Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore up...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2014, Monday) — Singapore’s Pavilion Energy and commodities shipper BW Group said they will form a joint venture to manage, acquire and charter liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping assets. BW Pavilion LNG Pte Ltd will start by operating one existing and two new LNG carriers. Pavilion Energy, a unit of Temasek Holdings...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2014, Monday) — The builder of Canada’s largest proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has told the country’s regulators to avoid repeating Australia’s mistakes in making policies that have led to cost over-runs and start-up delays. Malaysia’s state-owned energy firm Petronas is drawing on its costly experience as a minority partner in...
(EnergyAsia, May 23 2014, Friday) — Western Australia state must embrace the economic and employment opportunities provided by the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) industry to build international competitiveness and attract the next wave of resource investment, said a senior official of the country’s petroleum association. The fast developing FLNG sector and its technology have (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 22 2014, Thursday) — After a decade of negotiations, Russia’s Gazprom and state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) have signed a 30-year agreement for the annual supply of 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas to China worth a record total of US$400 billion for both companies. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and CNPC...
(EnergyAsia, May 21 2014, Wednesday) — Research and consulting firm GlobalData has identified two large Asian countries as the next hotspots for the development of unconventional oil and gas resources, with Australia having the edge over China. According to the UK firm, China has approximately 643 billion barrels of prospective shale oil and 4,746 trillion...
(EnergyAsia, May 20 2014, Tuesday) — US major Chevron has affirmed that it is on course to start up its massive Gorgon gas development and liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off the coast of West Australia state by mid-2015. In a conference call, CFO Pat Yarrington assured investors that the US$54 billion project, which had...
(EnergyAsia, May 19 2014, Monday) — While many refiners in Europe and Asia are struggling to stay afloat, their North American counterparts are profiting from sustained high margins brought on by an unexpected prolonged period of low domestic crude feedstock cost, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency said 2013 was the third...
(EnergyAsia, May 19 2014, Monday)— US WTI benchmark crude could plunge by half to US$50 a barrel within the next 12 to 24 months as rising global supplies outweigh geopolitical risks and demand growth, said BofA Merrill Lynch. “We forecast average WTI crude oil prices of US$94 per barrel in 2014 and US$91 in 2015,...
(EnergyAsia, May 16 2014, Friday) — Liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices across the Asia-Pacific region will come under pressure in the near term on rising production in the region and likely exports from the US, said consultant GlobalData. Its analyst James Hand cites the impending start-up of the ExxonMobil-led US$19 billion project in Papua New...
(EnergyAsia, May 16 2014, Friday) — Australia’s Queensland state government has rejected the concerns of environmental groups and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in affirming its support for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects worth a total of US$40 billion that are due to start up near Gladstone in 2014 and 2015....